


The Bridge

by honeybee_daydreams



Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Dreams, Dreams and Nightmares, Dreams vs. Reality, Dreamscapes, Dreamsharing, F/F, F/M, Fantasy, Fiction, Gen, Inspired by Dreams, Multi, Original Fiction, Science Fiction, Science Fiction & Fantasy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2020-04-14
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:14:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23657437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/honeybee_daydreams/pseuds/honeybee_daydreams
Summary: Young, miserable Athena is living in her own personal nightmare. The only escape she has is her artwork; that is until she gets trapped inside of an alternate kind of nightmare. Another version of reality is introduced to her. She doesn't know how to get back to the real world, only, does she really want to?
Comments: 1
Kudos: 3





	The Bridge

Athena sat up in bed and looked around at the room that she spent most of her time in. It wasn't very large. Not too small either. Big enough to fit a bed, a desk, and of course, her prized easel upon which stood a canvas that was intricately splashed with various shades of yellows and greens. She didn't know exactly what it was. That part wasn't important to her. 

Blankets were strewn across the floor in a haphazardous pile that ceased just short of her painting. Sunlight streamed through her window and illuminated the different hues of her masterpiece. 

That was her life. The paintings. She didn't know what she would do without them. She precariously stored each and every one of her finished products in a separate room, away from anything that could potentially damage them. 

Her room was a constant safe haven. A place where she could hide away from her problems. Take out her frustrations with careful strokes of a paintbrush against a blank canvas. She could create a whole new world out of nothing. 

It was incredible. And miserable. She wasn't happy, though, was there anybody who truly was? She didn't think so. Her parents had finally divorced after years of hatred that emerged in everyday conversations. They blamed her for it. Of course, they did. Who else would they blame? Themselves? No, no they needed a scapegoat. Somebody who they knew they could gaslight into believing that they needed to fix all of the world's problems. Especially the ones that had nothing to do with her. 

So that's how she lived her life. Worrying about all of the wrong things. Misfortune plaguing her every step. Maybe it was meant to be a good thing. Something to build up her strength. Make her more resilient. Problem is. What if you're not strong enough to even make it to that point? What if you don't have the willpower to make it through each and every miserable night. Staring at the ceiling above you as your thoughts whirl around your head, begging to be let out. 

That's how she spent her nights. No sleep. No dreams. Simply suffocation under her own dead dreams that lay upon her chest, crushing her lungs. She used to struggle. She used to fight and gasp for breath, trying more than anything to get the demons off of her. Now she just let them do what they wanted. They had stripped away her innocence, her purpose, everything she held close to her. They took it long ago. Typically, she would wait days before sleep-deprivation took over and she fell asleep. Today was that day. She lay back down, exhaustion coming over her in waves. She shut her eyes as the screams and snarls started back up inside her head. Images of bottles breaking and smoke furling from an abandoned fireplace flashed behind her eyes. 

I wonder if we're even real, she muttered bitterly to herself as everything she had ever said or done wrong replayed through her head like a broken record. 

Slowly, she felt herself drifting uneasily off to sleep. The dreams came slowly that night, however, she was surprised that they came at all. It had been weeks since her last one. She had been a lucid dreamer all her life, so her dreams typically reflected what she wanted. Tonight, however, her thoughts seemed to spiral out of her control, and her sleep followed this pattern. 

Her dream began foggily. Not in appearance, more so her mind. She felt confusion overtake her as her thoughts swirled around her head, almost to the point she could see them. They flit by so fast that she only caught wind of them for a mere second before it was gone again, leaving her with a blank spot in her mind, unable to place her finger on what was missing. This was unusual for her. Her thoughts were typically very repetitive and condemning. They forced her into an internal asylum where they attacked her endlessly. This was different. It felt like hands gripping at her and pulling her in different directions all at once. 

She felt everything begin to settle like ocean waves after a bad storm. She felt a shudder run through her body as if this weren't a dream. It felt real. Her head was still blurry. She was confused. More so than before. The thoughts had stopped altogether and she shook her head, unaware of the darkness that surrounded her. Slowly she came to her senses. Now she looked around, squinting to try and force her eyes to adjust to the total blackness. She raised her hand in front of her eyes, trying to make out the silhouette of her fingers to no avail. She closed her eyes again, forcing herself to try to slow her breathing. She was panicked. She hated the dark. It had never been kind to her. 

When she was a kid, she used to imagine hands ripping her from her bed at night. The memories of past terror flooded her mind now, overwhelming her senses. She could feel her heart racing through her entire body. Her hands were sweaty and her mouth dry. 

Breathe, she begged herself, just calm down. But she couldn't. It was as if somebody were controlling her. Forcing the panic to flow through her veins. Before long she felt screams rip through her throat. Her ears felt as if they were filled with cotton, all noises muffled as if she were underwater. Abruptly, she stopped. Light filled the room unexpectedly and she found herself sitting alone on a bright white linoleum floor. The light above her was blinding, although she didn't know where it was coming from. There didn't seem to be anything around her. She reached out, trying to feel something, anything, but there was nothing. Simply the floor beneath her. 

She attempted to stand, but with nothing around to support her, she was too weak. She began to panic again but on a subconscious level this time. Her mind was clear, but her body was trembling with fear. She blinked slowly. Where was she? The last thing she remembered was going to sleep. She must be dreaming. She was always a lucid dreamer after all. She almost laughed to herself. Why was she so scared? She could wake herself up at a moment's notice. 

That sounded like a good idea. This hadn't been a pleasant dream and she wanted to get out of it. And fast. She closed her eyes again, willing her physical self to wake up. Nothing. She opened her eyes and shook her head. That was strange. She never had difficulty leaving a dream before. She tried again, directing her focus solely on the task at hand. With no results. The slight smile she had on her face quickly slid off and a confused expression took its place. 

Okay, she thought, That's. Really strange. 

On another level of her consciousness, she felt somebody shake her, becoming more aggressive as it continued. She jerked up, eyes shooting open once again. She looked around at the familiar walls that surrounded her bed. A feeling of relief flooded her body but was soon replaced by an eerie sense of suspicion. This wasn't her room. At first glance, it was almost identical. But she quickly noticed details that differed oh so slightly. Paintings out of place, materials strewn across the room. She closed her eyes tightly, praying that when she opened them it would all be over. This was all just a dream that she needed to wake up from. She opened them tentatively. Instead of her safe haven that she dreamed of, her gaze returned to her pseudo-room. This time, however, instead of an empty room as she expected, there was someone sitting at her desk, back facing her. She swiveled around in the chair to face Athena on the bed. A smile lit up her angelic face and her eyes focused on Athena's astounded expression. 

"Lexi?" she whispered.

The girl's sweet laughter filled the room. This wasn't Lexi. It couldn't be her. Lexi was... Well. Lexi wasn't, would be more accurate. She had died months prior in a freak accident. It was a tremendous loss for everyone. She was well-liked by almost everybody who knew her. Athena was known by association. She was never concerned with the popularity aspect of it all, simply Lexi. Nobody caught her eye as she did. It was especially a loss for Athena, though. She didn’t know how to handle the unforeseen passing of her one love. Her eyes locked on Lexi's, and her vision began to blur as tears fell slowly down her cheeks. This wasn't Lexi. She knew that. This wasn't real- none of it was real. But God. She was here. Right in front of Athena's eyes. She didn't care whether it was real or not. She was here, God she was here again. She tried to come to her senses, but memories began to flood her brain, obstructing her rationality. 

Lexi- no. This wasn't Lexi. Pseudo-Lexi smiled innocently and stood up, walking to the edge of Athena's bed. Athena began to feel her anxiety rise. She was breathless, still unable to formulate a proper sentence. 

"L-Lex," she finally managed to stutter.

The girl sat down beside Athena's mess of blankets and steadily gripped her shaking hand between two of her own. Her hands were cold, lifeless. That was the first difference. Athena felt her body tense, then slowly relax. 

"I missed you," Athena whispered, tear tracks lining her face. 

She looked down at her paint-splattered jeans and let her shoulders drop dejectedly. Lex's hands lay in Athena's lap. Her smooth skin contrasted greatly against Athena's, which was scarred and calloused. 

Her nail beds were bitten down to the point of bleeding periodically, the skin around them similarly treated. Lexi's were immaculate, as was the rest of her. Athena had never been able to discern any flaws in her. If there were any, they were severely overlooked. Athena looked back up at Lexi. The easy smile had left her face and a single tear escaped her eye, falling slowly. Athena felt her heart break. Seeing Lex cry was soul-crushing. It was as if she were witnessing the world crumble. That's what Lex was. Her world. 

Whenever she died, Athena was a wreck. She didn't sleep for days. She was unable to cry, unable to move. She didn't eat. She didn't shower. She just sat up in bed and stared at her wall for hours on end, chain-smoking cigarette after cigarette until she couldn't feel the sting of ash on her throat anymore. It wasn’t that she wanted to die, nor was it the living that was breaking her. It was the breathing. Every ragged breath that escaped her smoke-blackened lungs was agony. Every gasp of air that she let out reminded her that her body was struggling to hold on as she took in plumes of deadly smoke from a killing instrument held between two fingers. She began to take anything she could find to sedate herself from the thoughts that flipped through her mind like pages of a book. She wanted to forget that she existed. It was dreadful business, the living was. 

Nothing mattered after Lex. Nothing ever would. How could it when the world had torn at its seams and nobody had a big enough needle to sew it back together again? Athena couldn't even bring herself to get out of bed, so how could she be expected to live on after the loss of everything? 

She tried to talk again, but all that came out was a broken croak from her throat. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, but no words came out. 

Lex shook her head and moved her mouth as if to tell Athena to be quiet, but also made no noise. Athena missed the sound of her voice. She could still hear it clearly ring out in her head when she least expected it, leaving her to sort through a miscellany of emotions. She was about to say something of the sort when the door to her room swung open violently. In walked a guy, somewhere between the ages of sixteen and twenty. His sandy blonde hair was messy and swept up into a bun at the back of his head, the sides shaved short. His stormy grey eyes swept the room and fell upon Athena. He gave her a suspicious look and glanced at Lex. 

“So you’ve met,” he said to Athena.

She was speechless. Her heart began to race, and she could feel it thumping against her ribcage, begging to be set free of its imprisonment. Questions surged through her mind too quickly for her to be able to voice. She tripped over her words for a few moments before giving up. She had a death grip upon Lexi’s hand, squeezing so hard that it began to hurt. 

“River. That’s my name,” he said cooly as if that explained his presence, “That’s Lex. Though you seem to already know each other.”

Athena looked helplessly at Lex. She was bewildered. Lex paid her no attention. Her gaze was instead focused upon River, her eyes burning angrily into his skull. Athena had never seen this look on her face. It intimidated her and made her want to shrink back and conceal herself. 

River looked back at Athena, sparking Lex’s attention. She looked back at Athena and a soft look replaced the angry one that had just inhabited her face. She shook her head and squeezed Athena’s hand back, smiling sweetly. Athena felt her nerves calm once again. 

“Okay, sorry,” River apologised, dropping the facade, “What’s your name?”

“Athena,” she answered sharply. 

“Athena? Like _the_ Athena?” he said excitedly.

She was confused. River was a stranger to her, so why was he so thrilled to meet her? He acted as if she were widely known around - well. Wherever this was. She must have looked befuddled because he quickly elucidated his excitement. 

“That’s how you know her, isn’t it? Lex, I mean?” he exclaimed wildly, “You must know how to get us out of here then!”

Athena stared at him perplexed. She still had no idea where she was or what was happening. She looked back at Lex questioningly with no response. 

“Lex?” she asked. The only acknowledgment she got to her inquiry was a sad look from her. She wouldn’t meet Athena’s eyes and deep concern for the girl blossomed inside of her. She tried to reach for Lex’s hand, but she pulled away from her before she could. Athena’s fingers curled together tightly as her disappointment steadily grew. 

“Oh, you don’t…” River said softly, breaking Athena out of the trance she was locked in, “She can’t talk.”

Athena’s already melancholy expression dropped into one of pure dejection. 

“What do you mean, she can’t talk?” 

She began to spiral. It was already emotional enough to see Lex again. She couldn’t take much more shock without going psychotic. Maybe she already had. She didn't know where she was or what was happening. All she knew was that Lexi was dead and now she wasn’t. 

“I’m not sure. She’s never been able to say anything to any of us. Maybe it’s different for you.”

“Us? You mean there’s more of you? Who _is_ so called ‘us’ in the first place? Where are we?” Athena cluttered.

Lexi looked at her so as to tell her to slow down her speech. 

“I don’t know where we are. None of us do. We just went to sleep one night and ended up here. We call it the In-Between.”

“In-Between? Between what?”

“Our conscious and unconscious minds, I suppose. There has to be a bridge between the two, don’t you think? This is it. This is the bridge.”

“Why are we here? How did this happen? Especially Lex… she’s been gone for a while.”

“I don’t know why we’re here. None of us do. But Lexi? I think that’s why she can’t talk like the rest of us. She’s dead and we’re… well. We’re not, at least as far as I know.” 

“Then how did you know who I am? How are you talking to her?” Athena said, voice cracking.

“I told you, we’re not the only ones here. Listen, there’s no point in us staying in your room. Come with me and I’ll show you to the others,” he said apathetically. His stoic exterior was back. 

Athena was so lost in this world. It was as if she was running forever, exhausting her body beyond repair, yet her feet never moved from the spot. The emotional turmoil that she was unprecedentedly thrown into without warning was creating a physical toll on her. Her body in its entirety was impaired. Agitation flared up inside of Athena. He was just excited to meet her minutes prior. Her anger must have been evident because River’s expression turned into one of desolation once again. His grey eyes were glassy and rimmed with red, an obvious indication of oncoming tears. 

“I’m sorry, Athena. You must understand, this is hard on all of us. I’ll introduce you to Crystal. She makes sure that things aren’t too ghastly around here.” 

She hesitantly stood up, still holding Lexi’s hand. Meeting more people made her nervous, but, she thought, perhaps it would help her make sense of this world. So far, nothing else had. She was scared. This fear was different from the fear that she held close to her heart at home. That fear filled her entire being with paranoia. It caused her to jump at sudden noises and anxiously peer around corners before rounding them. Here she just didn’t know what would come next. She didn’t know how the world turned upon its axis or if such axes existed. 

Back at home, things were complicated. She admitted that. However, here, they were just inexplicable. She wished she didn’t have to endure the fear all the time. She was tired of having to push through every day and yielding no results. Every heartbeat was a new struggle. She didn't want to meet Crystal. She didn't want to be here with River. The only thing she wanted - no, needed - was Lexi. She wished she would just take Lexi back home with her and leave this wretched world behind. She was already miserable. 

She looked down at her wrist, expecting to see her plain watch. Instead, the only thing that she saw was the tan skin of her arm ridden with thin white scars. Immortal memories of painful nights filled with arguments flooded her head and she quickly looked away before the tears swam in her eyes again. She always wore her watch. It comforted her knowing that she would always be aware of the passage of time. This was another difference. 

"Can't know the time?" she asked River.

"Time passes differently here. None of us do. They don't want us to know how long we've been here." he replied, shrugging his shoulders.

"They?" she said, perplexed.

He nodded to the window where a figure stood staring at the three of them, slowly shaking its head. 


End file.
